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Doctor Who Recap: Time Heist

This episode kind of had a raw deal. It had to follow up an episode that some are already calling the defining episode of Capaldi’s run as the Doctor. After an episode as creepy, disconcerting, and imaginative as last week’s “Listen”, all “Time Heist” really could aspire to be was good fun–which it certainly was. However, I think this episode was also an episode for those who still aren’t completely sold on Capaldi’s Doctor, for those viewers who miss the goofiness and kindness of Smith. So let’s talk about that.

On its face, this episode was sort of a timey-wimey Ocean’s Eleven. That is, if Danny Ocean and his gang were suddenly and mysteriously thrust into an ultra-dangerous bank heist with no idea of what they were stealing or why they had agreed to rob a bank in the first place. The Doctor, Clara, and two others named Psi and Saibra find themselves in this very predicament.

Again, there wasn’t anything too earth-shattering in this episode. We don’t get to see Clara and Danny’s relationship evolve any further (he’s not even in this episode, actually), and we don’t get any more of our favorite new mystery lady, Missy.

Really “Time Heist” was sort of a transitory episode from the craziness of “Listen” to whatever the future holds for us, but like I said, it revisited a few core, running themes from Smith’s Doctor. We saw these played out in the story of an alien called the Teller.

The Teller is held captive by works for the Bank of Karabraxos to detect potential thieves. The Teller reads a patron’s thoughts and tells (get it?) if the patron is guilty of a crime or not. If they are guilty, he sucks out all of their thoughts and memories, turning their brains to soup and leaving them a lifeless shell (with a seriously caved in skull). Obviously this guy poses a pretty serious threat to our four newly-minted bank robbers, and he is initially portrayed as one of the Big Bads of the episode.

Like I said before, one of the big mysteries of the episode is why each person agreed to rob the bank. We learn why the Doctor and Clara’s two new partners in crime agreed to the Karabraxos heist–one to restore his lost memories of loved ones, and the other to cure a mutation that causes her to physically and biologically mimic anyone she touches–however, it’s not until the very end that we learn why the Doctor and Clara have taken part in the heist. Ultimately, we find out that the Doctor had been commissioned (in a very timey wimey fashion, of course) to free the Teller and the Teller’s partner, who was being held captive to coerce the Teller into doing the bank’s dirty work, revisiting one of my favorite themes from Smith’s era:

Even though the Doctor has made it very clear that he isn’t going to have any sort of a romantic relationship with Clara, and even though he’s been a bit of a jerk when talking about her physical appearance, it reminded us all that he still is the same, lonely Doctor who needs his companions more than anything. When he drops Clara off for her date with Danny–a date that Clara nearly chose over spending time with the Doctor–he challenges Danny to top a bank heist. So sure, there’s no budding romance between the Doctor and Clara, and the Doctor can be a bit rude to Clara, but ultimately every lonely, slightly rude, rough-around-the-edges, suddenly Scottish, large-eyebrowed monster needs a companion.

The other revisited theme we see with the Teller centers around the fact that the Teller and his companion happen to be the very last of their species–which is, understandably, a sensitive spot for the Doctor. So while the Teller wasn’t necessarily a nice alien throughout the episode (you know, with the brain soup and all), as soon as the Doctor lets the Teller know it is free, its only concern is for his partner, letting us know that everything he did in Karabraxos was under duress, showing the audience that in reality the Teller was very old, (secretly) very kind, and (one of) the very last of its kind.

Again, this episode didn’t blow the doors off. This won’t be the episode that you tell your non-Whovians to watch to get them pulled into the show. However, it gave us a bit of quick and dirty fun after the intensity of “Listen”, and it also played back into two very poignant themes from Smith’s era, reminding us that though Capaldi’s Doctor is a bit rougher around the edges than Smith, he is still the same Doctor underneath it all. We’re all still getting used to Twelve, and a lot of us still miss Eleven quite a bit, so I think episodes like this are important. They remind us that while the Doctor may look and act a bit different, he is, ultimately, still the Doctor.

What did you think of this week’s episode? Let me know in the comments!

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6 thoughts on “Doctor Who Recap: Time Heist”

I absolutely loved “Listen” last week, and this one was good too. I agree that 12 may act rough but I think he’s hiding the fact that he needs Clara now more than ever. He’s very scared but doesn’t want to show it, so he resorts to anger and insults. But did you catch how much he freaked out during the part where they had separated, and he thought Clara had been caught by the teller? He froze!

I do think it will eventually end in more heartbreak, though, because Clara is pushing away from him to be with Danny, and the Doctor knows he has to let her go.. Its so sad!

And I tweeted this thought on Saturday, but it’s still bugging me: I noticed that 12 wears a wedding band. Is it a case of actor Peter Capaldi not taking his own ring off? Or is it a 12th Doctor ‘prop’ that nobody is mentioning yet? Because it would be kind of weird for it to be just Capaldi’s personal ring, and his not taking it off for filming, because all actors do, don’t they? Because then it throws fans like me off and causes disscusions, lol. Maybe it’s an intentional Moffat-thing?!?

Also! I thought part computer Psi dood seems like an interesting chatacter, and I’m curious to see if he goes on more adventures with the Doctor in the future.. He’s never had a not-100%-human companion, before! (He did have Harkness, though, who cpuldn’t ever die.. I really wish they’d bring him back!)

I didn’t even notice the ring he wears! That’s really interesting! I don’t know! It’ll be interesting to see if they play that out at all! And as for Psi, I’d like to see him again too. Saibra as well. They were both really fun, and I’d like that half computer aspect Psi would bring. (And I agree with you, I miss Capt. Jack, too!!)